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Jones Lang Prices Senior Notes

In order to reduce its existing debt, Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL), a real estate investment trust (:REIT), recently announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of senior notes worth $275 million. The senior notes, which are scheduled to mature in 2022, bear an interest rate of 4.400%.

The company expects the public offering to be completed by November 9, 2012, upon the fulfillment of certain customary conditions. The book-running managers for the notes offering are Barclays Capital Inc. – an arm of Barclays PLC (BCS), J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, a part of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, which is a unit of Wells Fargo & Company (WFC).

Apart from paying off the debts outstanding under its revolving credit facility, the company also plans to utilize the proceedings from the offering for other corporate purposes.

Recently, Jones Lang reported third quarter 2012 earnings per share of $1.23, ahead of Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.18. As of September 30, 2012, the company has cash and cash equivalents of $125.7 million and net debt of $767.0 million.

Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle provides corporate, financial and investment management services to corporations and other real estate owners, users, and investors worldwide. A broad real estate product and service range, and extensive knowledge of domestic and international real estate markets enable the company to operate as a one-stop provider of real estate solutions. As of September 30, Jones Lang serves clients in 70 countries from over 1,000 locations worldwide and holds a portfolio of approximately 2.1 billion square feet.

We currently have a long-term Neutral recommendation on Jones Lang. Also, it carries a short-term Zacks #3 Rank (Hold).